Drishti Stree Adhyayan Prabodhan Kendra,through its painstaking effort made PMC pass the gender budget that promises better life for women

Located in the placid locality of Mitra Mandal colony near Swargate,the Drishti Stree Adhyayan Prabodhan Kendra (DSAPK),has been working for over 12 years in the areas of women empowerment,and study of issues related to women. What had started out as a small organisation,which would just discuss women related issues,has now progressed on to become a full fledged study centre whose studies and findings have led the PMC to create a gender-based budget,which will focus on the basic needs and requirements of women.

The organization is primarily a study centre that has been studying women and issues related to women for the last 12 years. Most of its work includes collecting and compiling information related to women. This is usually taken in from various newspapers,periodicals,magazines and newsletters. “The primary reason for us to compile such information is to present a ready reference guide to anyone who wishes to study women related issues,” says Ranjani Khare,member of the organisation.

Recently,they had held a joint session along with the PMC wherein a discussion on the ‘Gender Budget’ was held. Speaking about it,Anjali Deshpande,secretary,DSAPK says,”Our main focus of discussion was the fact that women form the core of any family and that it is of extreme importance that they are self empowered. True,various SHG’s today are ensuring that more and more women are economically empowered but it is also of prime importance that they are self-empowered. After giving a patient hearing to our demands the PMC has actually allocated a gender-based budget wherein a significant proportion of the PMC’s annual budget will be spent on construction of toilets for women,short stay houses,where women who are either thrown out of their houses or have left their houses can stay till the time they are rehabilitated. Also money will be spent on the insurance of women from the lower income strata so that they are socially secure.”

Adding more Khare says,”The PMC has allotted a total sum of Rs. 112 crores for the gender budget. The gender budget is not a way or means of bringing about a divide between men and women but a way to socially empower women and help them realize their true worth and merit.”

Jharkhand,Orissa and Chattisgarh who scout states like Punjab,Delhi and others for better job prospects as home maids and labourers. The results of the study revealed that most of them were exploited by the people who lured them to the big cities in promise of jobs,or by their employers themselves. We presented our findings to the National Commission for women,which is the parent organisation for women related issues. The findings eventually led to the passage of the Social Security Bill in the Lok Sabha only recently,” says Khare.

The organisation had a humble beginnings in 1996,when the members of the organisation would come together to meet and discuss issues like,women empowerment,health,various policies made for women and a holistic contemplation on women. It slowly grew to printing bi-monthly periodicals and booklets and annual magazines relating to studies conducted by them and by other such professionals.

In the near future various projects that are lined up for Drushti,include,conducting a study on the declining sex-ratio in Haryana,the health based issues faced by women especially adolescent girls from the lower middle class strata of society and a study on the family system in India and the consequent roles played by women in the decision making process in the family.